Embedded Files
THOMAS ROARK
Records that we have traced so far show that Thomas was born in Ireland, we assume County Galway, Parish of Ballinakill in 1794. He fathered only one child, Martin.
MARTIN ROARK
Martin was born in County Galway, Parish of Ballinakill, Ireland in 1826. He migrated to America and settled in the Township of Buckingham, Wayne County, Pennsylvania, in 1856. He married May Madden. She was also born in Ireland in 1836. Six children were born into this family; Thomas E., Timothy J., Margaret, Bridget, Mary E. and Martin, Jr. Martin died June 19, 1891.
THOMAS E. ROARK
Thomas was born in 1857 and died on November 17, 1881. He never married.
TIMOTHY JOSEPH ROARK
Timothy was born on October 12, 1859, in Fork Mountain, PA. He married Susanna Theresa McKenna in Saint Juliana’s Church, Rock Lake, PA on June 16, 1889. She was born on August 16, 1865, in Wilkes Barre, PA, the daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Fitzsimmons McKenna. There were four children born to this marriage: Mary Irene, Elizabeth Albina, Raymond and Beatrice Agnes. Susanna died on May 12, 1908, in Fork Mountain. Timothy was married for a second time to Bridget T. Blake. She was born on March 9, 1872, in County Limerick, Parish of Ballingary, Ireland. They were married on October 10, 1909, in Paulist Fathers Church in New York City. One child born to this marriage was named Marguerite Frances (Mardie). After Timothy’s death on June 11, 1939, Bridget lived at another location in Lakewood with her daughter, Mardie until her death.
More information on Timothy J. Roark is below.
MARGARET ROARK
Margaret was born in Fork Mountain, PA. She left Fork Mountain and went to New York with her parents where she was employed as a seamstress. She married William Fitzgerald of New York, formerly of Ireland. They had one daughter, Frances. Margaret died in 1913 and her sister Mary raised her daughter. Frances was a graduate nurse who took her training at Post Graduate Hospital in New York City. She never married and died on October 29, 1927.
BRIDGET ROARK
Bridget was born at Fork Mountain, PA in 1861. She emigrated to New York City, where she died at the age of 21 years.
MARY E. ROARK
Mary was born in 1866. She left Fork Mountain with her parents and settled in New York City. She worked as a waitress in Child’s Restaurant. She married John Lynch in 1916 in Saint Raymond’s Church in New York. John had two sons by a previous marriage, and she also raised her niece, Frances Fitzgerald. A friend, Annie Gill, operated a boarding house in the original “SUNNYBROOK” in Lake Como, PA. Mary joined in that summer venture. They had an addition built and then separated the property, “through the center of the hall and the center of the well". In 1948, Irene McGranahan and Bessie Ryan, Mary's nieces, bought Annie Gill's side of the house, and when Mary died in 1948, Irene and Bessie inherited her part.
MARTIN ROARK, JR.
Martin was born at Fork Mountain, PA on October 6, 1869. He moved to New York with his parents. He worked in New York as a policeman. When he became ill, he returned to Fork Mountain to live with his brother, Tim, to convalesce. He went back to New York and worked for a time as a Port Authority guard and also a trolley car driver. He later returned to Fork Mountain. He built the addition on “SUNNYBROOK”. He also built a small house on the property next to “SUNNYBROOK”. At this location, he ran an ice cream parlor and a gas station. He never married, but was the auspicious God Father to Beatrice Roark Gill, Madlyn McGranahan Mahler and David Patrick Ryan, his nieces and nephew. He died on February 16, 1941 in Jersey City, NJ.
Timothy Joseph Roark
Born: October 12, 1859 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: June 11, 1939 Lakewood, PA
Timothy J. Roark was born on October 12, 1859, in Fork Mountain, PA and lived in northeast PA his entire life. He married Susanna Theresa McKenna in Saint Juliana’s Church, Rock Lake, PA on June 16, 1889. She was born on August 16, 1865 in Wilkes Barre, PA. She was of the daughter of Matthew and Elizabeth Fitzsimmons McKenna, who had migrated to a farm in Crooked Creek, PA. Susanna went to New York City and worked as a governess. She later returns to marry Timothy in Saint Juliana’s Church, Rock Lake, PA.
There were four children born to this marriage; Mary Irene, Elizabeth Albina, Raymond and Beatrice Agnes. Susanna died on May 12, 1908. Timothy bought the homestead from his father when Martin migrated to New York City with his wife and other children.
Timothy, along with farming, operated a boarding house at the present site of Camp Tioga. Clients came from NYC, which in those days was a long journey. He accommodated 18 to 20 boarders at a time.
Timothy was married for a second time to Bridget T. Blake, a native of County Limerick, Parish of Ballingary, Ireland. Bridget was born on March 9, 1872. She immigrated at age 13 to Avon, NY and lived with a sister, who previously emigrated. She obtained work as a cook in New York City. She came to Fork Mountain to visit her brother, James, who was recuperating at Timothy's farm. They were married on October 10, 1909 in Paulist Fathers Church in New York City. There was one child born to this marriage; Marguerite Francis (Mardie) on December 24, 1910 at the family Homestead at Fork Mountain.
Timothy sold the Fork Mountain Property, 365 acres, including the lake in April 1924 to Dr. Warner and Mr. Rueben where they established Camp Tioga and Camp Tabor. After selling the farm, Timothy bought the Dan LaBarr farm in Lakewood, PA. He operated the farm there until his health failed in about 1935. After Timothy’s death on June 11, 1939, Bridget lived at another location in Lakewood with her daughter, Mardie, until her death on May 5, 1942.
Timothy’s obituary read: Mr. Roark suffered a shock on February 25, from which he never recovered. He was a patient at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale from March 15th until May 11th afflicted with gangrene. He died at 7 AM on June 11, 1939. The host of friends who gathered to pay their last respects was a fitting tribute to the esteem in which he was held. A most genial Irishman with a kindly heart and ready wit. “Tim” was a good neighbor and will be greatly missed in the community in which he lived.
Mary Irene Roark McGranahan (TJ's 1st child)
Born: June 4, 1890 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: November 24, 1970 Little Falls, NJ
Mary Irene Roark was the first child of Timothy J. and Susanna McKenna Roark. Irene attended grade schools at Crooked Creek at High Lake, PA. She received a Common School diploma in 1907, and entered Buckingham High School, in Lake Como, PA, in September. Irene and her sister Bessie boarded with the McDermott family, coming home only on weekends to spend time with their parents and younger sister, Beatrice.
Susanna, her mother, passed away in May 1908. Irene and Bessie took Bea with them to school and the other girls graduated April 2, 1909. That summer, Irene went to New York City, shared an apartment with Aunt Mary Roark (later Lynch), and worked as a cashier at Child’s Restaurant on 42nd St., and later Chinatown.
Irene married Thomas F. McGranahan on November 5, 1915, in the Church of the Resurrection in NYC. They honeymooned in Niagara Falls and returned to start housekeeping in South Plainfield, NJ. Tom, a native of Wayne County, was a Trainman and Conductor for the Leigh High Valley Railroad.
On November 24, 1916, their first child, Thomas Joseph, was born. In 1917, they moved to 15 Morton Place, Jersey City, NJ. A daughter, Madlyn, was born on January 24, 1919. In September of 1919, they bought 19 Morton Place, where Cyril Francis was born on Christmas Eve 1922. And on December 11, 1925, their youngest child, Ann Marie, was born.
Her husband, Tom, died in Jersey City on September 7, 1945. In 1948, Irene along with her sister, Bessie, bought half interest in Aunt Mary Lynch’s Boarding House, (the property known as Sunnybrook in Lake Como, PA) which they fully inherited upon Mary's death. Sunnybrook was the scene of many joined family celebrations for continuing generations. Irene sold her share to Bessie during the 1960’s when her children had their own summer homes in New Jersey.
Irene continued to reside in the family home on Morton Place after Tom’s death. Since Cyril was the last child to be married, he brought his bride, Marge, home and began to raise their family. In 1966, Irene, Marge, Cy and their six children moved to Montclair, NJ. Irene enjoyed all of her 18 grandchildren, spending extended visits in Jersey City, Belleville, NJ and California.
In the late sixties, Irene developed heart problems, and succumbed on November 24, 1970. She is interred at Holy Name Cemetery in North Arlington, NJ with Tom.
Elizabeth Albina “Bessie” Roark Ryan (TJ's 2nd child)
Born: November 29, 1891 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: March 26, 1970 Yonkers, NY
Elizabeth A. Roark was born on November 29, 1891 to Timothy J. and Susanna (McKenna) Roark. She was raised on Fork Mountain in Crooked Creek, Wayne County and High Lake, PA. She graduated from Buckingham H.S. in Lake Como, PA in May of 1909. She also attended Simon H. Barnes Memorial School of Nursing graduating as an R.N. on May 12, 1918, in Susquehanna, PA. She worked as a Private Duty Nurse for a short time in New York City and PA.
On September 12, 1917, in Saint Patrick’s R.C. Church in Jersey City, NJ, Elizabeth was married to Patrick A. Ryan, a New York City resident, who was frequent guest at her father’s boarding house on Fork Mountain. They settled in Yonkers, NY and bore 11 children.
William Timothy "Bill" was born June 21, 1918. He married Ethel McLaughlin on April 21, 1951. She was born July 3, 1925. They had 7 children.
Beatrice Agnes "Bea" was born July 27, 1919. She married Edwin “Ed” Frawley on June 6, 1953. He was born February 4, 1920. They had 5 children.
Elizabeth Marie "Betty" was born May 23, 1921. She married Gaylord Blue on September 15, 1944. He was born April 13, 1921. They had 4 children.
John Joseph “Jack” was born June 12, 1923. He married Joan Bell on October 11, 1947. She was born November 22, 1925. They had 8 children.
Susanna Teresa "Sue" was born July 4, 1925. She married Joseph Benedict "Ben" McCormick of Honesdale, PA on September 9, 1950. He was born November 10, 1926. They raised their 13 children on the McCormick Homestead in Honesdale, PA.
Mary Patricia "Pat" was born August 20, 1926. She married John “Jack” Whaley on June 26, 1948. He was born September 29, 1924. They had 8 children.
David “Dave” was born October 29, 1927. He married Florence “Flo” Twiggs on September 11, 1948. She was born September 30, 1927. They had 12 children.
Daniel Arthur "Dan" was born September 27, 1929. He married Virginia “Ginny” White in May 1957. She was born March 24, 1936. They had 2 children. Dan died January 13, 1966. Ginny married James Irving on February 11, 1967. They had 1 child.
Margaret Jane “Peggy” was born September 6, 1932. She married Walter “Walt” Clevenberg on June 8, 1957. He was born August 28, 1930. They had 5 children.
Monica Irene "Monica" was born June 28, 1935. She married Stanley “Duke” Phillips on September 12, 1959. He was born August 19, 1930. They had 6 children.
Richard Joseph "Rich" was born March 26, 1939. He married Linda Lee Pepper on October 18, 1969. She was born March 10, 1943. They had 2 children.
Elizabeth’s husband, Patrick “Packy”, died on January 19, 1953. In October 1962, she was honored by her church, St. Mary’s in Mt. Vernon, NY. She was presented with a rosary blessed by Pope John XXIII. Before she died on March 26, 1970, she signed her home in Lake Como, PA. (Sunnybrook Farm, the former Gill Boarding House) to some of her children. The original Sunnybrook house burned down on January 13, 1975. In the summer of 1975, construction began on Sunnybrook II and is still used for family vacations every year.
Raymond Joseph Roark (TJ's 3rd child)
Born: 1894 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: 1894 Fork Mountain, PA
Raymond Joseph was born in 1894 and he lived just nine months. He is buried with his parents in St. Juliana's cemetery at Rock Lake, PA. He was the only son born to TJ and Susanna, leaving no one to carry on the Roark name.
Beatrice A. Roark Gill (TJ's 4th child)
Born: July 18, 1896 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: September 1, 1982 Pleasant Mount, PA
(written by Bea in 1980)
Beatrice Roark was born on July 18, 1896 at Fork Mountain (High Lake, PA- Postal District), the fourth child of Timothy and Susanna (McKenna) Roark. I attended school at Crooked Creek, Lake Como, (In 1912 -I attended Laurel Hill Academy in Susquehanna for three months) and High Lake. I attended Buckingham H.S. and graduated in May 1916. I went to Teacher’s Training School at Lakewood, PA that summer and taught at Crooked Creek School for three years. Then, I taught at St. Patrick’s Parochial School in Jersey City, NJ from January 1921 to May 1923.
On September 30, 1923, I entered training at the French Hospital Training School for Nurses in NYC. I graduated in March 1926 and received my R.N. in July.
I worked as a Private Duty Nurse until November 1929. I married Thomas Clement Gill on November 28, 1929 at Our Lady of Victory Church, in Jersey City, NJ. We took a boat up the Hudson to Albany, NY on a honeymoon. We went to Pleasant Mount, PA to live.
Winters were severe in Pleasant Mount, so on January 4, 1931 I went to Jersey City, so John Joseph Gill could be born at Margaret Hague Maternity Hospital. He was born on January 17, 1931. Jean O’Neill Ware was the nurse.
On December 2, 1932, Beatrice Elizabeth “Bebe” was born at home in Pleasant Mount. The doctor came from Honesdale, PA. The nurse was Mary Steigerwald, and the housekeeper was Helen Flanigan.
Mary Irene was born on May 29, 1934 at home. Mary Steigerwald was the nurse. Aunt Irene was also there, Dr. Cimahoski was the doctor, but could not be found. The baby came at 7 AM and the doctor didn’t arrive until 1 PM. Tom was very upset.
I retired from nursing in July 1962. We moved back to Pleasant Mount, PA and spent part of the winters from 1962 to 1966 in Binghamton, NY with visits to Durham, NC starting in December 1965. In January 1967, we went to Durham and on to Florida from then until April 1972. We lived four months each year in Florida. First Miami for two years, the next two were spent in Eustis, FL and the winters of ‘71 and ‘72 we lived in Lakeland, FL.
Tom had Pneumonia in October 1972 and was unable to travel. He died on August 31, 1973. Since then, I have spent my winters in Durham, NC and the summers in Pleasant Mount and Binghamton. I still claim Pleasant Mount, PA as my home.
-------------------------------------
Beatrice passed away on September 1, 1982, she was waked at her home in Pleasant Mount and is buried down the road with her husband Tom.
Marguerite F. “Mardie” Roark Taylor Page Thomas Quackenbush (TJ's 5th child)
Born: December 24, 1910 Fork Mountain, PA
Died: May 6, 1999
(written by Mardie late 1970’s)
I was born on December 24, 1910 at High Lake to Timothy J. and Bridget Roark. The winter was bad, and the Priest came to the house to baptize me. We lived at the family homestead at Fork Mountain. We had a nice lake and my father taught me to fish, bait my own hook and row a boat.
In the summer, my parents kept boarders so there was always some action. The rest of the year seeing as I was an only child (my sisters being older) Beatrice taught me for four years. I can still remember the ruler she used on ones knuckles. She was a good teacher, but at times wasn’t my favorite person.
The school was about two miles away and we walked every day except for bad snowstorms in the winter. Then my father would hitch up the horses and take us (or me after Bea left) to school. We had hay in the bottom of the sleigh and cow or horse hides to cover up with. Usually, the snow got so bad the farmers made roads through the fields and over fences until spring. There were no snowplows and the roads had to be shoveled by hand.
When I was 12 years old, my father knowing I would have to go away to school, sold the farm & lake to Mr. Rubins and Dr. Warner from the city for a camp for boys and girls.
We had an apartment in our big house for one year when my father stayed on as caretaker. It was really interesting to see the building go up and all the activities through July and August, when the boys were there. They came by train to Lordville, NY our nearest train station. My sisters, Irene & Bessie, came for part of the summer. That is why I’m so close to my nieces and nephews.
When I was 14, my father bought a small farm in Lakewood, PA & in April 1923 we moved up there. The school was real close, Preston H.S. I finished eighth grade there & the next year started high school.
My father put in a bathroom in the house & electric from a generator system.
I made friends quickly and enjoyed my friends.
When I was 16, I married Elmer Taylor. As my parents were getting old we lived with them and Elmer ran a garage.
Four daughters were born to us:
Hazel Irene Taylor- born April 27th 1928
Joan Marie Taylor- born October 18, 1929
Katherine Jean Taylor - born April 20, 1931
Margaret Ann Taylor - born June 11, 1932
Shortly afterward Elmer and I were divorced.
I married John Page in September 1934. John was much older than I was. We were married 5 years and 2 children were born to us.
Dorothy Mae Page- born May 12, 1935
Larry Joseph Page- born September 25, 1940- Larry only lived 10 weeks and was the only son born to me.
My father died on June 11, 1939.
In April 1942, I went to work in Scintilla Magneto Factory in Sidney, NY. When school was out in May, I moved my family to Deposit, NY. Neighbors took care of the 5 girls until school was out. Gelatts found a place for my mother to stay until we could all be together. I was working just two weeks when my mother died on May 5, 1942.
In June, I found an apartment in Deposit, NY, and we were all together. Even though it was a struggle, we had fun together. I had to get up at 5 AM to catch the bus to Scintilla in Sidney every day. The girls got themselves off to school and helped keep house.
After the girls were married, I moved to Sidney and lived with Joan & Howard for 5 years.
On November 2, 1963, I married Al Thomas and moved to Upton, NY. I quit work in Scintilla October 1968. Al had also quit Scintilla in 1966 and taught school in Upton Junior High math. He retired in June 1972. We spend our winters in Florida from Nov 1st to May 1st. We bought a house in Florida and plan to spend winters there. Al died on December 29, 1982. The rest of the year I lived with Jean, Bob & family in Binghamton, NY.
-------------------------------------
Mardie later moved to a senior residence where she met and married Granville Quackenbush. She died on May 6, 1999.
Google Sites
Report abuse